Tutorial: Colored Pencils

Ann Brown — May 13, 2016

Pigment has eight coloring tools to choose from – colored pencil, marker, paintbrush, fill (paint bucket), airbrush, round brush, linear gradient, and radial gradient. Knowing which one to use can be challenging and many times it comes down to exactly what you’re trying to color and personal preferences. So in the coming weeks, we’ll go over the tools and discuss the ins and outs of each. Today, we’ll discuss the colored pencil.

The colored pencil lays down a coarse line of color like a crayon. The strokes used in the picture below show some of the different sizes. I began with the 100% and worked my way to the 7% which allows a lot of versatility when using this tool. Although I didn’t use all the different sizes available, this gives you an idea of what they will look like.

Because of the coarseness of the stroke this pencil, it can be used for adding texture to enhance your picture. In this example, I used the pencil to add texture to the muzzle. The more times you go over the area, the darker and more solid it will become. In the second picture, I used the pencil to texturize and highlight the petal of a flower.

Another great feature of the pencil is the ability to add fine lines to your pictures. In this example, I used the pencil to highlight the gem.

As with most of the Pigment tools, you can adjust the size and opacity of the pencil giving you the necessary tools to create the image that you want. The sky is the limit. Go out and see what you can create! In our next tutorial, we will review the airbrush.

Ann Brown is a self taught artist who has been painting for about 35 years. After she mastered that skill, her drive to challenge herself led to teaching children’s art classes, as well as designing and making jewelry. She is currently writing a suspense novel. Just recently, she has also gotten involved with digital and traditional coloring. She serves as one of the administrators on the Digital and Design coloring group on Facebook.